Pieces of the Puzzle
by Serpentine Wisdom
Summary: A conversation between Hibari and Reborn leads to some realisations… mild one-sided 1827.


**Title:** Pieces of the Puzzle**  
Author: **Waruji  
**Fandom: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**  
Theme: **The boy who could not shiver and shake  
**Characters:** Hibari, Reborn**  
Pairing:** Mild one-sided 1827

**Word Count:** 2740  
**Rating:** T**  
Warnings:** I wrote it? Seriously, I don't do fluff (more like I _can't_…) none of my stories are of the happily ever after kind…**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or any of its characters and I'm not making any profit out of this.**  
Summary:** A conversation between Hibari and Reborn leads to some realisations… mild one-sided 1827.

**Author notes:** Just a short little fic in between the longer one shots that I'm writing. Gah, this was supposed to be half a page long… why can't I write drabbles….?

--

"Then you will join us," Reborn said; a statement not a question. His face was round and childishly puffy with baby fat and big round eyes too old and too cold and too deep for any child that stared intently across to room, fixated on the dark-haired boy loosely leaning against one of the windows.

"I suppose," he drawled, speaking with no conviction at all in his voice. "A promise is a promise, and I would like to see how far that useless thing can go."

"Useless thing…" Reborn raised a single eyebrow askance. "You're referring to Tsuna?"

For a moment the dark-haired boy didn't answer, merely stared past the arcobaleno in his neat charcoal suit with dreaming, faraway eyes and taking no notice that it was as out of place on that seemingly small and fragile body. "That's the one… the weak simpering fool who pulls miracles from nowhere."

There was no change in the baby's expression, just a tilt of his and a dark look in his eyes. "Tsuna might be an idiot but you can't call him weak anymore, Hibari. A weakling couldn't have defeated a monster like Xanxus. A weakling wouldn't have had the courage to stand firm and face him even though he was shaking with fear."

At that, the head prefect snorted dismissively. "He has learned a thing or two, but he is still nothing remarkable. The king of herbivores is still just another herbivore."

"So his victory over Xanxus was nothing?" Reborn said, his tone ridiculing the very idea.

Hibari's mirror-blank face turned contemplative and a fleeting shadow of something Reborn couldn't quite recognise but that would have made him shudder, had he been an ordinary person, passed over it. "He has potential."

"So you are interested?" The arcobaleno said, wondering what went on in the boy's mind. Although he had once told his young charge he could read minds it was just a simple little fib. His talent didn't truly lie in reading minds, but in reading the language of a person's body and face that so unwittingly betrayed the mind, leaving it as an open book. However, Hibari's mind and intentions, beyond surface-deep guesses, was in a language Reborn didn't know.

"Aa, you could say that," the considering look on Hibari's face grew deeper and he answered as if his words were a mild surprise to himself as well. "But only if he can live up to my expectations. As it is now, he falls terribly short of the mark."

"In the end, you don't consider his decision to face Xanxus as an improvement?" The small hitman asked.

"Why are you asking me this, baby?" Hibari asked, his head tipping to the side like a curious cat and his features set with cold-eyed suspicion. "I have already agreed to join your mafia."

"You're a strange person," the baby replied. "You fight like your possessed by a demon but you never loose your head. Sometimes it can be useful to get a more distanced perspective and I want your opinion on Tsuna's progress."

Hibari sneered, anger starting to simmer in his eyes but his mouth was smiling, almost as if asking: _do you take me for a fool, arcobaleno?_ Silence reigned and Reborn's muscles were tensing and his mind coolly evaluated the situation and started calculating a plan; as if on automatic his body still remembered what to do in dangerous situations. But nothing happened; the cloud guardian didn't move as much as an inch.

"He hasn't changed much," Hibari said. "But he has gained some sense in the past year."

"That's high praise, coming from you," Reborn said.

"Not really," the dark-haired boy replied. "His mind is still weak: the poster-child of herbivores. But he has the sense not to attempt to fight back when we clash, that counts for something in the area of self-preservation at least."

At that Reborn let a hint of disbelief creep into his smirk. "You saw him fight against Xanxus, are you sure you are even a match for him?"

"Are you picking a fight with me?" Hibari said, anticipation snaking into the twist of his lips.

When the baby didn't answer, Hibari turned his head away to gaze out the window – only the angle he held himself speaking of his disappointment. "A person that won't kill can't defeat me," he said finally, speaking the sentence as if the very idea of showing mercy was an anathema, an aberration of nature. "Right now the outcome is too predictable, it would be boring. But he has some potential, so I will let him live on and see if he can become a more worthy prey."

"It's not like you to be this patient," Reborn commented. "Not for someone you deem 'useless'."

"The herbivore king isn't much at the moment, "Hibari replied, and in the faint reflection he cast in the window the arcobaleno could see a wistful, almost gentle, expression. "But he can become something worth my attention; I feel it in my gut. He can become a man _worth_ killing."

Then, almost as if speaking to himself, Hibari added dismissively. "It's just as well hasn't been stupid enough to provoke me."

And those words made something click within the baby's mind, words he shouldn't have needed to hear to understand what the cloud guardian meant. "You mean," he began, struggling without knowing why, to speak, "that if he fought, then…"**  
**

"He would die," the dark-haired boy intoned, and there was something dark and wild in his voice. Something deeply mismatched with the prefect's cool-headed logic and well-groomed image that sent chills even down Reborn's spine. In a flash, the reflection he could see in the window had transformed and the dark-haired boy's features were no longer bored or as blank as an unpainted canvas. His eyes were wide, exposing the whites around his irises in which the pupils had shrunk to pinprick dots drowning in a sea of fervent grey, and his teeth were showing in a half-way cross between a smile and an animal's fierce baring of fangs.

It was a look so intensely murderous that the cursed hitman had drawn his gun so fast he wasn't even aware he was holding it by reflex alone. The gun was a cold, heavy weight in his hand but more familiar to him then his own name and he was surprised that his hand felt clammy with sweat around its handle. He had seen many dangerous men in his career, many lunatics and madmen and sadists but he had never before felt so disturbed by a single expression. Perhaps it was the last vestiges of morality still clinging to him that whispered in his ear that no child -because unlike Reborn that was what Hibari truly was- should be able to produce such an expression.

Soon Hibari's features were sliding back into the perpetually bored look that always seemed to dominate his face so smoothly and quickly it was as if nothing had happened. Reborn was quick to holster his weapon in a graceful movement that spoke of years of more habit then someone in a body like his should have had. Keeping his weapon out would in itself at best be seen as an invitation to his favourite pastime by Hibari or, at worst, as an admittance of weakness.

"You're not as naïve about the Vongola as Yamamoto, Ryohei, the dumb cow or even Gokudera…" the arcobaleno said. "You know what would happen if you killed Tsuna."

"Do I?" Hibari turning his face toward him and yawned.

"To the majority of the Vongola, Tsuna is just an oriental brat they would be happy to be rid off. But he still holds the position as the Ninth's official successor and if anything happened to him it would reflect badly on the Vongola," Reborn said casually. "Even Xanxus would be looking to paint Namimori red in your blood as revenge. It's a matter of pride. That, if anything, is something you should understand."

"So you say," Hibari said indifferently. "But what does that matter to me? I'll just bite anyone that comes after me to death."

"And if you can't?" Reborn asked. "Even if you survive you would be thrown into the deepest and darkest pits of the Vendicare prison and without mystical gifts like Mukuro's you would rot there for the rest of your life."

Hibari didn't say reply and for a moment, he looked solemn, almost mournful, as he stared down at his hands. In that moment of silence, Reborn was once again reminded of Hibari's often forgotten youth. The boy was so intense and so prideful that it was easy to forget, that despite how terrifying the population of Namimori found him he was still just a boy. This version, this self, was not his end stop on his journey to adulthood, but what would he grow into? It was that curiosity that had initially sparked this conversation. When the cloud guardian looked up again there was only fierce, unshakable determination in his face. "There is no point to live in a world where I can't fight; I will break anyone who tries to stand in my way."

A short, astonished bark of a laugh escaped Reborn's lips. _'What a guy… there is no fear in him at all…'_

And another piece of the puzzle that was Hibari Kyoya was within his grasp. Both before and after his curse Reborn had seen many strong men in his profession from all over the world, good, insane, honourable, ruthless… but Hibari was a rarity even in underworld. A boy who could not, _would not_, feel fear was trouble because a person who feared nothing could not be controlled unless he himself allowed it. While the Arcobaleno had met several men that did not fear death, he had never before met anyone devoid of the feeling itself. Overcoming fear, like Tsuna did, or moving past fear, as was Yamamoto's trademark, or even refusing to acknowledge it like Gokudera was prone to do was nothing like Hibari's condition at all. Whether they were cruel or brave, innocent or corrupt – they all had something that struck terror in their hearts. If they did not fear physical harm, then they inevitably feared injuries to the soul, to their heart and mind.

Dino had been more insightful then he knew when he said that Hibari Kyoya was a boy without limits. The cloud guardian would never be moved by fear or loss or self-preservation or even his own concept of right and wrong because to him might _made_ right and self-preservation was a distant second to his own selfish whims. It was strange considering how rule conscious the boy was, but for him, Reborn supposed, the rules and discipline he guarded like a hawk and the commonly accepted idea of right and wrong had very little in common.

When Hibari's line of sight was drawn to the window again, watching a small, brown haired figure moving quickly across the schoolyard with a peculiar light in his eyes Reborn wondered if it had been a mistake by Iemitsu to let the dark-haired prefect into the Family. It was faintly ironic that the very traits that made him a perfect fit for the role as the cloud guardian also made him an unsuitable presence around Tsuna – especially with that look that the arcobaleno could not afford to let pass.

"You can't have him," he said quietly.

Hibari stepped away from the window, his movements light and graceful and uncommonly energetic, his eyes flat and challenging, a smirk curving his lips. "Oh? Why do you say that, baby?"

"Tsuna is too important," the arcobaleno said, a cold finality in his tone.

"To important for the likes of me…" the prefect drawled, his eyes flashing dangerously and his hands twitching momentarily, as if closing around a pair of tonfa that weren't there. "Is that what you are saying?"

"Stop jumping to conclusions, Hibari. It isn't like you," Reborn replied, irritation making his mouth into a thin, hard line. "You're dangerous, and you've made it perfectly clear that you have no loyalty to the mafia. To put it simply; we can't afford to trust you."

"And yet you have placed me in a position of power within the Vongola," the cloud guardian said mockingly.

"Just because you're dangerous," Reborn said, "doesn't mean you can't serve a purpose."

"I serve no purpose but my own," Hibari said with narrowed eyes then took a step back to lean against the window with his back. "But that man mentioned something along those lines when we were fighting. Wasn't that the reason why I was chosen… _because_ I have no loyalties to the Vongola or anyone else? Isn't the purpose you want me to serve to be the boogie-man that keeps the Vongola in line…"

"Yes," Reborn confirmed bluntly. "Your purpose is to be our executioner."

There was a pause filled with an uncomfortable silence as Hibari seemed to consider the idea, the cogwheels of his mind turning behind those unreadable grey eyes. To Reborn's surprise, the silence was broken as Hibari laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking and a hand gripping his thigh tightly. Loud and clearly and with the only true amusement Reborn had ever seen out of the cloud guardian he laughed just like any other boy. When the laughter finally came to an end, the prefect returned his full attention to the cursed baby across the room and walked toward him with the pace of a predator, stopping only just outside the invisible line for Reborn's personal space.

"So you're going to use me like I'm just a piece of trash and then try to throw my away if I become a problem," he said, amusement still clinging to his voice. "The Vongola really have some guts to say it straight to my face like that. It's an interesting challenge, though. We'll see if you are able to discard me that easily."

Adjusting his hat, Reborn sighed. "It's not that we want to dispose of you. There is no _'if'_ you become a problem, eventually it will become a necessary to eliminate you."

Hibari was simply too unpredictable, too uncontrollable and too selfish to not cause trouble, due to his own nature it was inevitable… There would come a time when he would no longer let himself be subtly prodded along the path the Vongola chose – not even with bribery as tempting as a death match with Mukuro. Hibari was the dog that could patiently exist peacefully, or as close the prefect could come to 'peaceful', next to his family only to one day without warning turn on them and rip them to pieces.

"Hey," Hibari said, that strange faraway gaze returning to his eyes. "If I'm loyal… can I have him?"

"No."

The answer was immediate, without hesitation. Even if the cloud guardian came to love Tsuna with all his heart, or as much as he was able, and protected him from the whole of the world with unwavering devotion he could not protect the Tenth boss of the Vongola from himself. Hibari could kiss Tsuna passionately one day only to turn over in bed the next to strangle him as calmly as he read the morning papers and then go and eat breakfast right next to the other guardians without any qualms over the ordeal. That was his nature; his violence merely a result of his predatory nature. Even if Reborn warned Tsuna the boy was too trusting and naïve to be able to handle someone like Hibari. After a few years if nothing happened, the Vongola Decimo would drop his guard, forgetting that Hibari could not stop being a predator anymore then he himself could stop being a herbivore. Tsuna would only be safe as long as the cloud guardian never grew bored of him and just like a dog would give chase if you ran all that was needed was one little trigger, just a small push, to activate Hibari's killer instincts and it would no longer matter how much he loved Tsuna – one of them would have to die.

"As long as I'm here, I won't let you get near that no-good Tsuna," Reborn said with the heavy conviction only a professional killer could have.

"As long as you are alive…" Hibari whispered, and then smiled like a shark scenting blood. "I'll remember that."

"I'm sure you will."

**The End.**


End file.
